Chlorophyll measurements in sp. using meter and the color space CIE L*a*b*, and its validation in foliar senescence.

Our research aimed to study the correlation between the readings and the color space CIE Lab* values in two cultivars of sp. during leaf senescence and to evaluate the statistical criteria used in the selection of the best fit calibration functions. We demonstrate the importance of the Akaike information criterion and the parsimonious function besides the coefficient of determination. The reliability of the functions was tested by 's test comparison between the chlorophyll (Chl) estimated from SPAD readings and their chemical concentrations. Polynomial and Hoerl function described well the changes in Chl and total Chl (+) during senescence, but calibration functions are required to perform for each cultivar. We demonstrated that CIE Lab* system is reliable to estimate SPAD reading at stages of leaf senescence of sp. and can be used instead of .